Education,socialization and community: Coping with marginal youth in rural frontier communities in Israel

This article is an enquiry into the social and cultural phenomenon of a group of youth at risk who live in community settlements in isolated rural areas. The aim of the article is to focus upon the ambivalent views these youths at risk have regarding the above communities which were collected in twelve in-depth interviews carried out with youth counsellors, social workers and members of the families of the youths at risk in the community settlements. In the process of analyzing the data the central themes concerning social exclusion versus inclusion as well as the difficulty of defining the boundaries of the community arose. This social arena exhibits how the phenomena of youth at risk at small communities, express the discussion of the legitimate non-conformist reality about new normative boundaries of the community resulting from these adolescents' social processes. We will show how different players simultaneously act in the community in the way they deal with the youth at risk (in non-formal education, teaching and care authorities, the community) and how each of them influences the formation of the definition of its boundaries in their decision to include and embrace or to exclude and ignore the marginal youth among them. In other words not only are different social forces not operating as a consensus by virtue of the struggle they are engaged in, they are even expressing social messages that deal with the formation of the local community in its broadest and narrowest sense.     

Perceived density, social interaction and morale in New South Wales rural communities

This paper explores the relationships between population density, social interaction patterns, and morale in rural communities. It tests two apparently competing hypotheses concerning rural population density, social interaction patterns and overall levels of morale: one, that low (and rapidly declining) rural densities lead to feelings of isolation and low morale in response to contractions in local social interaction networks; or two, that communities facing the demographic scenario just provided might provide more social space for individuals to assume leadership roles, thereby developing their self-confidence. This situation could be expected to produce higher levels of morale and satisfaction with community life. Drawing upon quantitative and qualitative survey research conducted within the social catchment areas of three contrasting rural New South Wales (Australia) communities, the paper finds that some of the key hypotheses of ‘manning theory’ are confirmed: declining population densities can open up space for previously less self-confident individuals to assume important public roles. However, while overall levels of community morale are high across all three communities, regardless of population density, there is also obvious dissatisfaction in the community of greatest density decline with the declining local educational and economic opportunities, and the increasingly concentrated burden of community responsibility. This suggests that rate of change in actual measured density, and in perceived density, may be more influential than the level of density in affecting community morale.     

The question of community attachment revisited

In this paper we compare the relative effects of satisfaction with specific community (neighborhood) attributes and social integration into the community on community attachment. Previous research on community attachment has not assessed the importance of satisfaction with specific attributes as a determinant of attachment. Instead, this research has focussed on integration into the social life of a community as the primary source of community attachment. We find that although social integration has the more important effect on attachment, satisfaction with specific community attributes also has a statistically significant effect. People who are satisfied with the general physical appearance, the noise level, and the quality of neighbors in their communities tend to be more attached to them than those who are less satisfied. We address the theoretical and policy implications of this finding. In short, this finding implies, contrary to previous thought, that it is possible for there to be higher levels of attachment to communities that appear to be lacking a well‐developed social life. It also implies that levels of attachment to communities could be enhanced by programs that improve certain features of the physical environment which are seen as indicative of the quality of communities as good places to live.     

Rural communities and well‐being: a good place to grow up?

This study looks at young people's accounts of life in communities in rural northern Scotland, and considers in what ways affective and social aspects of community are bound up with well‐being, over and above young people's concerns for the future, rural youth transitions, and out‐migration. Interviews were held with 15–18 year‐olds in four study areas (16 groups, N=60+) and a parallel survey of 11–16 year‐olds was conducted in eight study areas (N=2400+). Themes to emerge from the interviews included: opportunities locally, the future and staying on, as well as local amenities and services; but older teenagers also spoke at length about their social lives, family and social networks, and their community, both as close‐knit and caring and as intrusive and controlling. Rural communities were seen as good places in childhood, but not necessarily for young people. In parallel with that, the survey data paints a picture where feelings of support, control, autonomy, and attachment were all associated with emotional well‐being. Importantly, links between emotional well‐being and practical, material concerns were outweighed by positive identifications of community as close‐knit and caring; and equally, by negative identifications as intrusive and constraining, where the latter was felt more strongly by young women. Certainly, beliefs about future employment and educational opportunities were also linked to well‐being, but that was over and above, and independently of, affective and social aspects of community life. Additionally, migration intentions were also bound up with sense of self and well‐being, and with feelings about community life; and links between thoughts about leaving and community life as controlling and constraining were, yet again, felt more strongly by young women. Thus, gender was a key dimension affecting young people's feelings about their communities with significant implications for well‐being, and out‐migration. The study illustrates the importance of understanding the experiences young people have of growing up in rural areas, and how they evaluate those experiences: particularly, how life in rural communities matters for young people's well‐being; and especially, for young women.     

Contested communities: the refuge movement and cultural identities in Wales

This paper explores different meanings of community and cultural identity. Women involved in the refuge movement in rural Wales belong to overlapping communities: geographically located rural communities; linguistic and ethnic communities; and the gendered and occupationally based community of Welsh Women's Aid. Language is an important marker of belonging to Welsh rural communities which are under threat from an influx of non-Welsh speakers. Incoming women who are homeless as a result of domestic violence may be perceived as part of this threat. This creates a potential conflict for refuge workers, some of whom are also Welsh speakers, who represent the interests of this group of women but also belong to Welsh-speaking, rural communities. We explore the interrelation between these refuge workers, the various communities to which they belong, and how belonging or not belonging shapes their identities. We conclude that these women, in spite of the conflicting rights and interests of their various communities, negotiate a shared collective identity which owes something to all three.     

‘The good old days’: In-migration,social control and the decline of the ‘imagined’ community in a north Wales market town

Rural communities across Britain are witnessing local level social, political and economic developments within the broader context of a general contemporary restructuring of the countryside. Changes such as in-migration, a loss of young people in search of employment, a declining agricultural economy and the closure of public services act to question long-standing ideas of the countryside that encompass a lifestyle bound up with community and belonging. It seems then that the traditional community is disappearing in the face of modernity. However, this paper argues that the traditional community was held up as an important reference point in a north Wales market town when faced with social change. As a response to the issue of in-migration local people constructed their version of what can be termed an imagined traditional community. What is clear from the research is that even in a symbolic sense, this imaginary dimension of community was still a powerful determinant in shaping perceptions and motivating actions at the local level.     

The relevance of place and family stage for styles of community involvement

Community involvement may be a nuanced aspect of individuals' lives, and the place of residence could play a role. In this paper, we created a measure of four different styles of community involvement using cluster analysis, then investigated how education, work involvement, family stage (marriage and parenthood and age of the youngest child), gender, and the local residential community influence the style of involvement for a randomly sampled survey of residents in four upstate New York communities (N = 1006). The locally networked were involved through informal exchanges, and their friends were mostly family and neighbors; the institutionally embedded volunteered and made friends through organizations and work; moderates invested in formal institutions and local networks, and the loosely connected were minimally involved in local community life. Family stage, educational level, work involvement, and local community of residence helped predict styles of community involvement.     

Fuzzy duocentric community detection model in social networks

The main goal of this paper is to present a clustering model to identify duocentric communities in the complex networks. A duocentric community is built around two central nodes which are as close as possible to other nodes, while the central nodes are connected enough to each other to shape the center of the community. To detect such communities, we develop a new objective function based clustering model. The network's nodes are assigned to the duocentric communities by the type-2 fuzzy numbers which indicate the degrees of belonging to the communities by upper and lower membership values. Generated interval type-2 fuzzy membership values by our proposed model are able to determine how much each node belongs to the both central nodes and how it is shared among communities. Also, the compatible verification index with the proposed model is introduced to evaluate and compare the results of the proposed model with the existing approach in the literature. Finally, the performance of the proposed algorithm is validated by detecting duocentric communities in three artificial networks and two real social networks.     

Bridging the gap between social work practice and community based welfare agencies

This article argues that social work in the UK needs to renegotiate its relationship with community welfare agencies. It begins by examining what we mean by local community and how welfare needs reflect complex non-linear dynamics unique to the local circumstances. It is argued that these are not always recognised in centralised policy agendas. The article broadly draws a parallel between policy issues for the European Community and for the national state. The drive for both is towards uniformity, which potentially fails to acknowledge the unique circumstances at both the national level between nations and the local level between communities.

The focus of the analysis is the lack of engagement with the subtleties of the local within the arena of social work education and practice. With the opportunity presented by the introduction of a new social work degree in the UK, the authors describe how a social work programme in Liverpool undertook a piece of research with the aim of creating an appropriate place for community welfare agencies in practice placements, the academic curriculum and, ultimately, with the next generation of social work practitioners. Eight welfare agencies within the proximity of Liverpool University, an area known as Toxteth, agreed to participate in the research to investigate what kind of placement module would enable local welfare agencies to engage meaningfully in the social work degree. Out of this process emerged a model for research based curriculum development involving local community agencies and academic institutions. More specifically for Liverpool, it placed the notion of social work's relationship with local community welfare at the heart of professional development for qualifying social workers, paving the way in this region of England for closer links between welfare agencies associated with civil society and professional social workers.     

Producing More with Less? Community Forestry in Durango,Mexico in an Era of Trade Liberalization*

Abstract Through a qualitative case study of peasant‐organized forestry in Durango, Mexico, this paper examines how neoliberal policy reform is reshaping the community forestry sector. Post‐1992 agrarian and forestry laws facilitate the emergence of new forms of association in ejidos (collective property communities created by agrarian reform) and agrarian communities, and reorganize the delivery of forestry technical services. These developments indirectly undermine peasants' capacity to deal with the sector's long‐standing internal problems, putting at risk their ability to provide themselves with the services they need for sustainable community livelihoods and forest exploitation. Nevertheless, this study of a forest peasant federation shows that institutional change is a process peopled by groups of social agents who respond creatively to external structure from local organizational and community contexts. Ethnographic methods can be used fruitfully to study complex interactions between multiple levels of political‐economic structure and local action, which both constrain and provide opportunities for the organization of common‐pool resource management regimes.     

Unveiling the mantra. The salience of network-based community belonging in understanding the structural and agentic conditions of the migration-development nexus

There is more and more evidence that migration and development cannot be considered as two dimensions, whose nexus emerges naturally as a mantra with reciprocal advantages both in developing and in developed countries. This article investigates the theoretical framework of a migration-development nexus as a double time-dependent process of social change, at the same time embedded both in the long durée of the reproduction/innovation of social practices and in the short durée of an agent's personal reflectivity. I argue that the wide scenario of this interplay is the place for the cultural, symbolic, and moral dimensions of a migrant's membership of a network-based community, which acts as a cultural compass in determining migrants' attitudes towards the development of their home country. Strong community membership can be associated with real engagement in the development issues of members left behind (as part of the collective self), only if we assume that membership and belonging are not necessarily shaped by kinship or ethnic considerations, but vary according to the structural features of migrants' social networks – for example the way in which migrants define networks as their own communities, the results of past community memories, and how they imagine their future community on the basis of current experience and perception. The paper discusses these issues in the light of the structure-agent debate in social sciences and migration studies.     

Locality and community: coming to terms with place

The paper seeks to examine how social science has attempted to combine the uniqueness of place with general social processes. Two concepts which have traditionally been used to this end are examined; these are ‘locality’ and ‘community’. It is argued that although community has fallen out of favour, problems associated with the use of ‘locality’ could lead to a revival in the use of the former concept. Case study material from rural Wales is presented to show how the two approaches might usefully be combined.     

Rural government and community participation: The planning role of community councils

Since April 1996, Wales has possessed one principal tier of local government: 22 unitary authorities. Below this tier of administration, a second level exists: community and town councils. The statutory duties of these authorities are severely limited but they do perform a valuable advisory and consultative role with the principal authorities, particularly in rural areas. The recent reorganization of Welsh local government has prompted commentators to reconsider whether community councils could be afforded more statutory powers in rural governance. This paper discusses the potential for enhancing their role within one service area, namely the planning process. Planning is a function of local government where changes to responsibilities could be enacted. The paper discusses the findings of two research projects: first, a survey of senior planning officers in Wales towards awarding planning powers to community councils; and secondly, a more detailed examination of the perceptions of community councils in rural mid-Wales towards their powers and duties, their planning links with the principal authorities, and their duties within local communities to generate public involvement in rural policy-making. It argues that allocating planning responsibilities to community and town councils lacks the support of both planning professionals and community council representatives themselves. However, in the dual-push for unitary councils to operate both strategically and locally, there is further scope for a reorientation of rural policy-making and for local planning authorities to provide more extensive consultation opportunities to the councils.     

Community Economic Development Strategies in Rural Washington: Toward a Synthesis of Natural and Social Capital*

Abstract Routes to economic development attract considerable attention in community and rural sociology. Social scientists draw increasingly on studies of social capital and environmental surroundings as they examine the factors that facilitate and inhibit economic development. However, few empirical analyses exist that analyze the impact of the combination of social infrastructure and natural capital on different forms of economic development such as on industrial recruitment and self‐development. Using data collected from six communities in Washington State, the interaction of a community's social infrastructure and natural capital on industrial recruitment and self‐development efforts is examined. Results suggest that while natural capital positively impacts a community's successful recruitment of outside industries, it is not significant for a community's level of self‐development. However, a community's social infrastructure, measured by the existence of active civic organizations, local businesses that support local community projects, community‐wide fund‐raising capacity, and extra‐local linkages to nearby communities, state, and national agencies, positively affects both industrial recruitment and self‐development. These findings illustrate the need for communities and local activists to carefully weigh their advantages and potential shortcomings when deciding on an economic development strategy.     

In search of a happy medium: How the structure of interorganizational networks influence community economic development strategies

Routes to economic development attract considerable attention among social scientists, policy makers, and community activists. Increasingly, social scientists examine various attributes of communities, their members, and their natural surroundings that facilitate and inhibit economic development. However, few empirical analyses exist that analyze the impact of a community's network structure on different forms of economic development such as on industrial recruitment and self-development. Using data collected from six communities in Washington State, the impact of a community's interorganizational network structure on industrial recruitment and self-development is examined. Results suggest that different types of network structures are better suited for different economic development strategies. A certain level of cohesiveness among community organizations and institutions are favorable for implementing self-development projects. However for industrial recruitment, networks that are bridging facilitate more types of economic development. While bonding and bridging network structures appear to be at odds with one another, it is possible for communities to increase both forms of economic development by maintaining a certain level of cohesiveness among subcomponents and increasing the number of organizations that serve as cut-points connecting non-redundant sources of information. These findings illustrate the need for communities and local activists to consider a community's network structure when deciding on an economic development strategy.     

“If You Talk Badly about Drilling,You're a Pariah”: Challenging a Capitalist Patriarchy in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale Region

Research on energy development is largely gender neutral, creating a need to illuminate how gender structures life in contemporary energy boomtowns. This study demonstrates how gender and the local economy are intertwined to perpetuate a capitalist patriarchy, which structures life for residents in these communities. The purpose of this article is to show that this economic‐gender structure creates tensions between those men and women whose gender performances reinforce hegemony and those who perform gender in direct opposition to resource extraction. I argue that men and women unconstrained by the capitalist patriarchy are better able to challenge its dominance than residents employed in the local economy. I use qualitative interviews (N = 39) with community residents and observations of community events in northeastern Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale region as the primary methods of data collection. This study complements previous research by demonstrating the relationship between masculinity and femininity, showing the variability of gender in natural‐resource‐based settings and defining the hierarchal relationship among masculinities and femininities during periods of rapid energy development.     

Where everybody knows your name: the role of social capital in resettlement after an employee relocation

This exploratory research investigates the process of adaptation that follows the intra-national migration of families moved for a professional employee's job. The research suggests the existence of ‘relocation enclaves’ or areas of residence that are densely populated by relocated families. Qualitative interviews with wives relocated for their husband's jobs reveal the importance of building social capital to rebuild families' lives and the positive role that relocation enclaves can play in offering that social capital. Additionally, findings suggest that, contrary to Putnam's proposition that an influx of relocated families into a community would contribute to the erosion of community connections, relocated women are highly active in their new communities and they invest time and inject new ideas into local schools and organizations.     

The influence of organizational social responsibility on involvement behavior in community sport membership associations

Membership‐based associations are critical to their local communities and the overall social impact of the nonprofit sector. This study examines how organizational social responsibility within nonprofit membership associations influences positive member involvement behaviors, including volunteering, speaking positively about the club, and member loyalty. Self‐administered online questionnaires were completed by 735 members within seven grassroots membership associations in Ontario, Canada offering community‐based sport programs. Results show that members are somewhat aware of and felt positively about their organization's socially responsible efforts. Awareness of these efforts had a positive direct effect on the involvement behaviors of members, including intention to stay involved with their club and speaking positively about their club to others (i.e., word of mouth). Members' level of social consciousness was found to have a positive direct effect on word of mouth. Furthermore, members' positive evaluation of sport clubs' socially responsible initiatives was found to partially mediate the positive relationship between social consciousness and involvement behavior, as well as partially mediate the positive relationship between awareness of those efforts and involvement behavior. Results of this research provide grassroots membership associations with an in‐depth understanding of how their organization's efforts toward social responsibility influence member perceptions and behaviors, which may help them focus their efforts and more effectively manage their social change agenda moving forward.     

The essence of being connected: the lived experience of mothers with young children in newer residential areas

Parenthood is a significant life transition and a time of increased social support need. In newer residential areas, a lag in social infrastructure and family relocation can influence potential isolation of families with young children. This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of being connected to local communities for mothers with children aged 0–5 years. Family insights were obtained through in-depth interviews with 12 mothers who were primary caregivers, homeowners and living in newer residential areas in outer suburban Perth, Western Australia. For mothers with young children, being connected to the local community appears to be shaped from their past and present lived experience as well as future aspirations. Connectedness evolves and may develop more slowly in newer communities where social relationships and networks are often recently formed. ‘Interaction’, ‘knowing what's going on’ and ‘help is nearby if you need it’ were identified as the essential themes of connectedness for mothers and families in this study. Belonging was identified as an incidental theme as not all mothers who felt connected felt like they belonged. The findings provide insight for professionals and agencies working with families with young children as well as planners of newer residential areas.     

Constructing ruralities: The case of the Hobbitstee,Netherlands

Rural intentional communities withdraw from mainstream urban space, rejecting its materialism and consumption. In creating their own places in the countryside, they produce new spaces of rurality. Constructions of rurality by intentional communities can be perceived as ‘out of place’ by local populations. This article draws on a wider study on the life-course of intentional communities, i.e. processes of growth, persistence, transformation, decline, and disintegration. We focus on ruralities as social constructions, by discussing the example of the community of the Hobbitstee in its relation with its rural surroundings in the Netherlands. This is done through an analysis of the life course of the Hobbitstee since its establishment in 1969 onwards. The results show that relations between locals and community members are characterised by diversity and multiplicity. In general, their constructions of rurality gradually and partly developed from conflicting to converging.